The two-year action plan to boost Western Australia’s tourism sector

The two-year action plan to boost Western Australia’s tourism sector

The McGowan Government has announced a two-year action plan to boost Western Australia’s visitor economy which is lagging when compared with other states and territories.

Tourism WA’s new marketing strategy needed to attract more visitors

Data released last week showed WA was the only part of Australia to see a decline in overseas visitor numbers, and their total expenditure, in the 12 months to December 2017. International tourists to WA fell only 0.8 percent in that period, while expenditure dropped 5.5 percent on the back of a 7.7 percent fall in visitor nights.

Attracting more overseas direct flights to Perth and undertaking an “aggressive” marketing strategy are two key platforms for Tourism WA’s new plan to attract more visitors to the state.

The news was welcomed by the Australian Hotels Association (WA), with CEO Bradley Woods saying the establishment of a clear blueprint for visitor growth was important in order to turn around WA’s performance in attracting travelers to the State.

“The action plan clearly outlines a number of practical ways that more visitors can be attracted to WA as well as how that travel can be facilitated, which is exactly what hotel and hospitality operators have been asking for,” Woods said.

“Western Australia has so much to offer visitors but we are living in an increasingly competitive global environment, making it more necessary than ever to self-promote and campaign in order to lure domestic and international travelers to our shores.”

And that’s not just because it gets so hot in summer that it can sometimes feel like we live on the surface of the sun.

New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show we welcomed a record 9.02 million international visitors in the year ending March 2018.

That’s a whopping increase of 7.7 percent on the previous 12 months.

A release from the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Steve Ciobo MP, said this new record comes as visitors spent a record $41 billion in Australia last year.

“The world is in love with our beautiful country and all it has to offer,” said Ciobo.

“The spectacular scenery, unique wildlife, and world-leading food and wine are attracting people to our shores like never before.”

“AUSTRALIA IS WELCOMING RECORD NUMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS WHO ARE STAYING LONGER AND SPENDING MORE.”

The tourism surge is being led by China, which recently overtook New Zealand as our largest source of international visitors, accounting for one-in-six international tourists in Australia and more than a quatre of total international visitor spend.

Australia is also enjoying strong growth from the United States. A record 9.2 percent increase in US visitors during the past 12 months comes on the heels of Tourism Australia’s recent Dundee campaign, aimed at further growing the lucrative North American market.

“Last week’s Budget reaffirms our support to boosting this super-growth sector with continued record funding for Tourism Australia,” said Ciobo.